Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! Or at least to those who have already celebrated. Adam and I definitely fit in the category of having not celebrated turkey day yet. My brother-in-law and I both have the unfortunate habit of working in the healthcare field -- he had to work yesterday, and I have to work today (and then we'll drive down to their house).

It definitely did not feel like Thanksgiving yesterday. I mean, there was no turkey (though we did have some Turkey Stick, which is awesome), no mashed potatoes, no rolls, nothing. Okay, I shouldn't say nothing. Adam and I did have some beef tenderloin, but that is for another post.

Today's recipe looked so scrumptious in the Kraft Foods magazine. I hadn't had tater tots in years, even though I love their crunchy outsides and soft squishy innards. So I had some high hopes for this recipe. And well, it fell just a little bit short.

MIX soup and milk; pour over meat mixture. Top with layers of vegetables, cheese and potatoes.

BAKE 45 min. or until potatoes are golden brown and casserole is heated through.

Serves: 6

It was a pretty simple meal to put together, but through that simplicity, it really lacked a lot of flavor. This dish definitely warranted a healthy dose of pepper mixed in, or maybe some other kinds of seasonings. As is, it definitely fits into the "comfort foods" category. Maybe with some help on the seasonings, it could move up in my ratings.

Monday, November 24, 2008

So I'm going to be upfront about this whole "one-dish" thing -- it's really not. It's more of a two-dish recipe. (A medium saucepan and a large skillet if you don't believe me.) Which was really kind of disappointing, as I was looking forward to the one dish, as Adam likes to complain that I try and use every dish we own. I'm such a sucker for less work... or maybe I'm just lazy. ;)

The one-dish aspect wasn't the only reason I chose this recipe. I've never used kielbasa before, and honestly, I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping for something a little more spicy. I guess I was thinking it was more like sausage. Well, I must say, now I know.

Adam and I were fairly disappointed in this dish. It went together and cooked up pretty quick and easy (it was in the superfast section), but it just didn't have much flavor. It kind of just tasted like rice, peppers, peas, and kielbasa, how much of each depended on what was in your bite. Nothing really tied it together and blended the flavors.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Of course, I couldn't let such a thing as a "dating anniversary" (do those even exist after you're married?) go by without making a dessert. Or at least use it as an excuse to make a dessert. I had been craving pumpkin pie, the entire end of October. I knew Thanksgiving was coming up in about a month, and nothing says "fall" and "comfort food" like pumpkin pie.

Well, I wanted to switch it up just a little bit and not make the one big pie, instead, I used my small little cake pans to make 4 little guys. Honestly, I didn't mess with the recipe... I've always been a Libby's pumpkin pie kid, and I still love it. Why mess with a good thing?

BAKE for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F.; bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this may cause filling to separate from the crust.)

NOTE: May use refrigerated or homemade single pie crust to make 4 mini-pie shells. Lay rim of mini-pie pan on rolled out dough. Cut circle 1/2-inch larger than mini-pie to allow for dough to form fluted edge.

Makes: 4 pies

I actually am more a fan of the regular sized pie. While these do happen to be little and cute, I really do enjoy the crust on the bottom of the pan, and this size just cuts down on it. Kind of a bummer.

Back on the 4th, I decided to make an extra special dinner for Adam and I. After all, we had just cross the 4 year mark for being together. :)

As you can tell by most of my posts, we eat a lot of chicken. A lot. I figured it was time to switch things up a little bit and try making some pork instead. I'm usually not a fan of pork chops. It usually brings up memories of pork soaking in some form of gravy in the crockpot all day. Not my favorite.

So pan-frying the pork rather than slow-cooking it was a definite improvement for me. However, I was a bit wary, and I knew it was super easy to dry pork out when cooking it.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Rub spice mixture evenly over pork. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan, and cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan, and keep warm.

This recipe was listed in the quick and easy section on myrecipes.com, and it was definitely was that. For my first time making pork chops, they turned out halfway decent and not overly dry. I just wish I would have reduced the raspberry glaze a little more to give it a stronger flavor.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Everybody loves quick and easy meals, especially when they are super tasty. This recipe definitely fits the bill.

I was getting a little tired of chicken -- it does seem like we have it quite an awful lot. I happened to be looking through the quick and easy section on Cooking Light's website, hoping to find some quick recipes for those days I just didn't feel like cooking, and I ran across these calzones. They seemed easy enough to throw together, and there wasn't a lot of prep involved (perfect).

Divide dough evenly into 5 pieces; pat each dough piece into a 5-inch circle. Spoon about 1/2 cup spinach mixture onto half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over filling until edges almost meet. Bring bottom edge over top edge; crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 14 minutes or until browned.

Serves: 5

True to its classification, these were super easy and super quick to throw together. And yes, they were definitely tasty.

I used the Pillsbury Pizza Dough (it was the only stuff I could really find), and I'm not sure I'd use it again. I think homemade dough would make these really awesome. Anybody have any good recipes?

I am absolutely in love with my Google Reader as of late. (As if you couldn't tell, the last few recipes have been found on it.) But the way I look at it, if someone else liked it, then there's a pretty good chance that I will too. :)

Adam and I love macaroni and cheese. He is still very partial to the blue box, but after a little experimenting, I think these new recipes are pulling me away from the Kraft version. I found this on Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments -- and it's actually one she come up with herself, which is pretty cool.

Mascarpone Mac & cheese

From: Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments

3/4 lb elbow macaroni

2 TBSP butter

8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened

3/4 cup grated Fontina cheese (I used Fontinella)

Peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled

Béchamel

3 TBP butter

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt

3 TBSP flour

Boil noodles to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel by melting the butter in a medium saucepan. Add milk & cream. Whisk in remaining ingredients and simmer until slightly thickened.

In another saucepan or medium skillet, melt 2 TBSP butter. Once melted, add mascarpone cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. Add the fontina and mix until smooth.

Add the noodles to the cheese mixture and stir until well mixed. Add the béchamel and mix until it reaches your desired level of creaminess. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Serves: 6

Once again, I threw in a little bit of bacon to satiate Adam, but in this case it worked out really really well. I ended up using most of the bechamel sauce as I like my stuff pretty creamy, although I feel like it took away a little bit from the cheese flavor.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Pierogies. What the heck are those? That was definitely my first thought when I heard of these things. I remember walking through the grocery store and seeing a sign in the frozen food section labeled "Pierogies."

Back in August, we had both Adam and my parents out to visit us during the same weekend. While we were out eating, I saw pierogies on the appetizer menu, and suggested trying them since "apparently" they're a big thing in Pittsburgh. And they weren't bad.

Then in October, I ran across a homemade recipe for pierogies from Brown-Eyed Baker on my Reader. A couple weeks later I decided to give it the good ol' college try.

They're actually fairly time consuming (well at the least the dough is), but not overly difficult to make.

To prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the ½ cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness (about 5-7 minutes). You can use a food processor with a dough hook for this, but be careful not to overbeat. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or overnight; the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Prepare the Pierogies

Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or countertop until 1/16″ thick. Cut circles of dough (2″ for small pierogies and 3-3½″ for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Boil the pierogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute sliced onions in butter in a large pan until onions are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy.

Potato, Cheese & Onion Filling

1 lb red potatoes

¼ of a large onion, finely chopped

2 oz. cheddar cheese, finely grated

Salt & pepper

Peel and boil potatoes until soft. While the potatoes are boiling, saute onion in butter until soft and translucent. Mash the potatoes with the sauted onions and grated cheddar cheese, adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some fresh parsley, bacon bits, or other enhancements if you desire. Let the potato mixture cool and then form into 1″ balls.

Homemade Pierogi Tips(according to Brown-Eyed Baker):If you are having a hard time getting the edges to stick together, you may have too much flour in the dough. Add a little water to help get a good seal.

If you don’t want to cook all of the pierogies right away, you can refrigerate them (uncooked) for several days or freeze them for up to several months.

Serves: 6 (4 pierogies each)

So I didn't make enough onions to saute with the pierogies at the end, and they're actually a really crucial part of the flavor, so I would suggest making lots of onions.

While the pierogies "as-is" were really good, I think adding crumbled bacon would just put these over the top.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

I absolutely love cheesecake. I swear it runs in my family -- both my sister and my mom are cheesecake fiends as well.

Back in July, the Cheesecake Factory had their big anniversary, selling a slice of cheesecake for only $1.50. Of course, I called my sister starting out with: "I have the best news ever for you." And the quick response was: "You're pregnant?" What? NO! "The Cheesecake Factory is having a sale!"

So okay, I guess the second best thing ever for my sister. Either way, she was just as excited as I was. Well, as fate would have it, neither one of us ended up getting any. She didn't make it out there, and Adam and I went, but the line was ridiculously crazy. So no go.

When I saw this recipe in my Reader a while back, it just looked to tasty I had to try it. And when I got a Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer for my birthday, it all became possible!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.

Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake (I used a pizza cutter, as suggested). Add cubes to cake batter as directed below.

Stir together ingredients and press into bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 10″ springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.

Part Three: Cheesecake

3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Make crumb crust as directed above for 10-inch cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

When completely cool, top with following glaze.

Part Four: Ganache Glaze

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. Scald the butter and cream together in a saucepan (or in the microwave on HIGH for 1 minute). Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla and then whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves: 16

So I definitely doubled the crust, as I love me an Oreo crust. Unfortunately, since I've never made one before, the crust got a little thick in the crease, so it was very tough once it was baked. And I kind of feel like there was a bit too much butter in it as well.

This cheesecake was actually for Halloween -- don't you just love the spiderweb top I made? (Yes, I am so proud of myself.) I just wish I could have found those cheap-o plastic spider rings to complete the look.

Overall, there are a few things I would change about the recipe for next time. The brownies and ganache were pretty good, but I think I'd try Tyler Florence's cheesecake in lieu of this one and use a bit less butter in the crust. I'd also bake the cake in a waterbath, as suggested in Tyler's recipe, but not this one.

Onions. We used to not get along so well. I think it was a texture thing. Actually, I'm still not a fan of the raw crunchy onions. It's the crunch, and the super potent onion flavor that gets me. Over the past year, I've slowly been giving onions a chance, but I really think it was the Smoked Gouda and Caramelized Onion Quesadillas that really won me over.

While dining at one of the "in-house" restaurants at the resort during our honeymoon, I decided to be brave and try some French Onion Soup. I was surprised by the sweeter onion flavor -- something I wasn't expecting. But I liked it.

Months later, someone on the message board I frequent raved about a French Onion Soup recipe from Epicurious.com. And naturally, it peaked my curiosity. I wondered if I would be able to replicate the tasty soup I had before.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until very tender and brown, about 45 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced to glaze, about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, beef broth and mustard. Simmer 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate. Return soup to simmer before continuing.)

Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into broilerproof bowls. Top each with slice of toast and grated cheeses. Broil until cheeses melt and bubble.

Serves: 6

I am glad we tried it out. It was definitely tasty and worth cutting up 5 million onions (or so it seemed). We did omit the last part (broiling the bread and cheese), opting for grilled ham and swiss sandwiches instead, but it was still delicious.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Apparently, I am excellent and finding "non-dinner entree" recipes to make for supper. I saw this recipe in the August 2008 issue of Bon Appetit and it reminded me of some delicious creamed corn my mom had made for me a while back.

The writer claimed it was "as creamy and comforting as risotto..." so I figured it would work as a main dish, like my risotto does. Um, wrong. Well, we made it work. Actually, I told Adam that I was sure it wasn't going to be enough for him, but he was going to have to get over it because I wasn't making anything else. I'm so nice. :)

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 1 minute. Add remaining corn kernels and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add creamed corn sauce and cooked orzo. Bring to simmer. Season to tast with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl, sprinkle with chives, and serve.

Serves: 4

Don't get me wrong, now. This dish was actually pretty good. It was definitely creamy and comforting. And I would definitely make this again.